Culture shock and student engagement Swallow, Deborah; Tomalin, Barry
Training, language and culture (Online),
6/2022, Volume:
6, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
This paper explores research into how to get foreign students studying overseas engaged with their work and how to deal with psychological difficulties in their new environment which can affect the ...quality of their studies. The paper is based on a presentation to HEURO (The Association of Higher Education European Officers) at a conference on the topic of Re-imagining Mobility for the Post-Pandemic World. The paper discusses how our understanding of international cultures needs to change, the difficulties faced by foreign students settling into another country, the impact of culture shock and how to deal with it and how to manage when faced with reverse culture shock when returning to your own country.
Teaching irony in the Spanish/L2 classroom Martín-Gascón, Beatriz
Porta Linguarum Revista Interuniversitaria de Didáctica de las Lenguas Extranjeras,
01/2023
39
Journal Article
Open access
This article presents an empirical study on the implementation in the Spanish/L2 classroom of a cognitive-based pedagogical material to teach irony building from previous research on irony detection ...in Spanish and English tweets (Author 1, 2019, in press). Participants were 87 intermediate and 82 advanced students from a North American university. Data were collected during a 75-minute classroom session following a pretest/posttest design to measure irony production and identification. A linguistic background and language use questionnaire was also administered prior to instruction. Quantitative data derived from the irony recognition tests were analysed through a scoring system. Mixed data from the irony production tests were codified to pinpoint learners’ ways of expressing irony using an analysis scheme based on Ruiz de Mendoza’s (2017) twofold category of irony. The results revealed a significant improvement after the intervention for students from the two proficiency levels. Advanced students were significantly better in the production task; however, no significant difference was found between the two groups in the irony recognition tasks. Our findings outline the impact and importance of explicitly teaching irony –a rather neglected aspect heretofore– already at lower levels to avoid misunderstandings in the L2 and enhance learners’ intercultural awareness and communicative competence.
This paper examines intersecting concerns in global citizenship education (GCE) and English Language Teaching (ELT) in the face of globalisation. While these two educational agendas cannot be assumed ...to automatically converge, our study signals that promising overlaps emerge from the enactment of dialogic practices in second language education. Drawing upon an ELT reading course in Chinese higher education, we elaborate on how a Freirean informed approach opens up pedagogical encounters and opportunities for undergraduates to become interculturally aware citizens. The pedagogic vignettes presented here challenge the dominance of pragmatic orientations of ELT in mainland China today while instigating a teaching paradigm shift. Though practical language skills have been touted within Chinese universities for decades, we argue for an integration of GCE into teaching and learning English in a dialogic manner, thus developing bilingual and interculturally aware learners who critically engage with the uncharted terrain of an increasingly globalised world.
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BFBNIB, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
In this article we present the findings from a virtual exchange project between undergraduate students of English at a Spanish university and students of Spanish at an American university. After ...engaging in information exchange, comparison and discussion of four cultural topics using WordPress and Zoom, the final task involved exploring the linguistic landscape and how the foreign/second language was used in their respective cities in order to encourage cultural awareness and engagement with difference. Data analysis included quantitative analysis (descriptive statistics) and qualitative analysis (coding and categorization) of the photos taken by the students in addition to qualitative analysis (open and axial coding, Grounded theory) of the content of their reflection essays. Results suggest that the students engaged with difference at deep levels and that, when integrated in virtual exchange, issues relating to social representation and identity can be negotiated and differences can be acknowledged and valued.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Cultural awareness (CA) has emerged over the last few decades as a significant part of conceptualizing the cultural dimension to language teaching. That is, L2 users need to understand L2 ...communication as a cultural process and to be aware of their own culturally based communicative behaviour and that of others. However, while CA has provided a vital base of knowledge in relation to the cultural aspects of language use and teaching, it is still rooted in a national conception of culture and language. This is problematic given that English is now used as a global lingua franca. Intercultural awareness (ICA) is presented here as an alternative 'non-essentialist' view of culture and language that better accounts for the fluid and dynamic relationship between them. Key components of ICA are discussed along with their relevance to ELT practices and suggestions as to how they can be translated into classroom pedagogy.
The aim of this study is to investigate the problems English as an Additional Language (EAL) professionals face when providing English support to Roma teenagers in secondary schools in Derby in North ...England. In addition, this study aims at finding out how intercultural awareness can help those professional overcome these potential issues. There is a limited research on Roma teenagers and English language learning. Thus, this may cause great difficulties to EAL professionals who offer English support to Roma students. Roma culture is very unique and shows many aspects which other societies may not relate to, for example social exclusion, Special Educational Needs, English as a second language and challenging behaviour. A potential solution to this problem may be intercultural awareness and its value in teaching minority groups. The method for this study is quantitative. The questionnaire of 16 questions with open, closed and rating scale questions along with an opportunity to add additional comments was used. The study highlights the factors of challenges and issues EAL professional face when teaching Roma teenagers, for example low ability and level of literacy skills, behavioural issues and poor attendance. The study confirms that intercultural awareness can help when providing English support to Roma teenagers. In addition, the study highlights the importance of trainings and workshops.
Textbooks have always played a significant role in the field of English language teaching (ELT). They are the main source that conveys cultural values and information in the language classroom. ...However, compared to the increasing number of migrants in Thailand, and particularly migrant children in Thai public schools, ELT textbooks have yet to properly take into consideration the reality of the multicultural Thai context. English is currently the most widely used lingua franca in the world, which means that it is shaped by a large number of non-native speakers in various multilingual and multicultural settings and local contexts. Thus, it is no longer sensible for ELT to be solely associated with Anglophone cultures. This study is based on observations in classrooms and semi-structured interviews with three Thai teachers of English at a government primary school in Samut Sakhon province in Thailand. Findings demonstrate that there is a strong need for more cultural content related to ASEAN countries in English textbooks, especially in multicultural schools. Furthermore, this study addresses implications for future ELT practices and materials for Thai primary schools in light of the continuously growing diversity within Thai society.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Anchored in Byram’s (1997) intercultural theory, this article makes a case for critical intercultural awareness, which involves critical understanding, analysis, evaluation, and interpretation of ...sociocultural realities. Given the importance of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in English language teaching (ELT), this article reports a classroom-based study investigating the use of digital photograph-mediated intercultural tasks to promote students' critical intercultural awareness in the tertiary ELT context. Sixty six English literature majors volunteered to participate in the study. In this study, data were garnered from students' work artifacts, classroom observations, in-class discussion notes, and field notes. Drawing on qualitative content analysis, findings show that digital photograph-mediated intercultural tasks help the students enhance their critical awareness of cultural realities portrayed in the photographs they navigated online. This study suggests that using both intercultural tasks and digital photographs as culturally-laden learning resources has the potential to promote students' ICC in English language classrooms.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Although in the educational context the virtual exchange practices have become popular since pandemic, there is a need to examine and provide more evidences and lessons learned from this kind of ...international experiences in order to advance in teaching on line and to train students how to be efficient when working in virtual teams. This paper studies the results of a virtual collaboration among three universities in two different countries (Peru and India). It discusses the methodologies and pedagogies of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) and global virtual team (GVT) and presents an instrument that was developed to understand student's needs and interests in several aspects (work in international teams, acquisition of intercultural knowledge and skills). A survey was applied to 77 students in Peru and India. The results showed the development of students' communication and collaboration skills as well as cross-cultural understanding and appreciation of other cultures. Despite the challenges that appeared during the project such as time difference, schedule, language barriers and engagement of some team members, students appreciated the opportunity to engage with peers from another country and to learn more about their culture. The COIL methodology, in contrast to GVT method, offers students more holistic and transformative learning experience supported and guided by lecturers. Trained faculty and awareness of COIL pedagogy characteristics and its implications are critical to a student's success.
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BFBNIB, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
This study focuses on the importance of strengthening intercultural awareness among future Primary School teachers. Intercultural communicative competence plays a fundamental role in developing an ...honest and productive dialogue among people, whatever their origin, language or cultural heritage, and prospective teachers will be responsible for training the ‘good interculturalists’ of tomorrow. A survey was conducted among students attending a degree course for Primary Education Teachers to highlight what knowledge, practices and skills they have acquired regarding intercultural competence and whether they are able to deal with and successfully apply the notions of plurilingual and intercultural competence to their teaching practices.
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